Don't Cry
by Spanish Ninja Sneasel
Summary: The conclusion to Three Words and Return To Me. A ShiShi's not a ShiShi with only one Shi, is it? ^_^ The closest to romance and, in my opinion, the best of the three.


_You know the drill. I don't own Pokemon, and the lyrics are from "Where You Are" by Jessica Simpson. I don't own them, her, any of that stuff. I think I'm done now.  
  
AN: I had a different idea for this (a very BIG one that would work all of the stories together), but it seems that my idea's already been taken... So the Three Words trilogy ends with this story here. This was my first idea to conclude it, so at least I had backup. ^_^_  
  
Following the black dog, I had some trouble finding the right room. I didn't know the house very well since I'd only been there a couple of times before. I relied on her to find him.  
  
As she slid down the hallway, she suddenly stopped. She sent her nose to the air and started trailing to the left. I peered over to her side and saw a door, then went to catch up with her. "Good job," I congratulated the dog and pointed to the door. She knew what I was signaling and jumped onto the door, her paws reaching the knob. A small gap showed, sending a streak of moonlight into the black room. The dog pushed the door with her nose to open a larger pathway and entered, waiting for me to follow.  
  
I slowly stepped into the room, allowing myself to take a look at where he lived. I was interrupted when I heard rustling from the bed. I turned my attention to the source of the noise and saw Pikachu sitting up on the bed. "Pi?" she questioned. The dog hid by the side of the bed so she couldn't be seen, leaving Pikachu wondering where the noise came from.  
  
"It's all right, Pikachu," I whispered, knowing she couldn't hear me anyway. But once I did, the mouse silently jumped off of the side of the bed, onto the floor in front of me. She looked up straight at me, her brown eyes glistening in the streak of moonlight.  
  
"Pi... Ka...?"  
  
She could see me. I almost cried right then. "Pikachu..."  
  
The look in her eyes showed she was puzzled. It was obviously strange to her... I was supposed to be gone. And if she could see me, she must have had some sort of power... Something that Pokemon must possess. It was understandable that the Dark Pokemon could see me, but...  
  
"Kachu, Chu, Pi?"  
  
I looked back down at the Pokemon, but this time she didn't look confused anymore. She had a small smile on her face... Maybe she knew why I was there? Whatever she was feeling, it didn't seem to be hostile. "Pikachu, can I see him?"  
  
"Chu," she nodded, then jumped back up. I followed her to the side of the bed and watched as she gently pulled the covers down from his head.  
  
I could feel my emotions rise when I looked his face over. He finally looked peaceful. I knew he hadn't slept in days, and I felt somewhat guilty for that. Given the faint light, I could still see that his face was tearstained. A lump started to rise in my throat. I felt that I was going to start crying, too, but my thoughts stopped myself. The thought that those tears wouldn't be real; simply a figment of an illusion... Which was what I was. I wasn't real; they couldn't see me. But the Pokemon... I swallowed hard to push back my quavering. I had to do it.  
  
"Hello, Ash... I know it's been about a week, hasn't it? I'm sorry I've waited this long when you were so upset. I've been keeping an eye on you as well as my family... I couldn't come see you until you were asleep," I sighed and lowered my eyes. "I'm sorry for putting you through this. I know I could have pulled through... But I didn't want to."  
  
I put one hand over my face to dry the tears pushing their way through my eyes. As I slid my hand down the front of my face, I flinched as I crossed the wound over the right side of my mouth. "I'm sorry, Ash, I just couldn't do it. After that... The things I held in my memory... How could I look anyone in the eye again?" I was choking on my words. No matter what I did, I forced myself not to start crying. I took a deep sigh and tried my best to continue straight. "And if I tried to hold on, it would have taken everything out of me. I couldn't sleep without a nurse watching me constantly... And who knows how long the physical aftermath would last? I couldn't live like that, Ash," I raised my head, looking out the window as my voice shook on every breath. "The only reason I'm not afraid to walk around now is that I know no one can see me."  
  
I let myself fall onto my knees. My mind was flooded with memories of that night... That man. And the knife... I remembered exactly what the knife looked like. He threatened me with it several times before he actually used it. My mistake was believing him when he said he wouldn't use it... As long as I did as he said. I held my head in the palm of my left hand and tried as well as I could not to cry, but I still let out scattered sobs. I could feel the fear rising again... I did every Goddamn thing he told me to, and he still cut me up. I could have saved myself a lot of physical and mental pain and disobeyed him in the first place.  
  
I heard a quiet whimper from behind me. I abruptly turned around to see the one who sympathized with me. "I'm all right, Umbreon... It's okay," I inhaled deeply and got back on my feet, facing Ash once again.  
  
I examined his facial expression. He seemed upset. I didn't know if he was having a bad dream, or if he just couldn't change his emotions. I wished so much that I could comfort him... It was the least I could have done after what he'd been through that past week. I licked my lips and blinked hard. "God, I'm sorry. I never imagined it would even hit you this hard. To be honest... That one morning, when I woke up in the tree house and remembered the night before, when I turned around... And you weren't there. That morning..." I scoffed under my breath, "I spent a good hour trying to figure out why I couldn't smell anything on your breath, because I thought for sure you must have been drunk. And... It hurt. I don't actually know what I would have done if you were next to me, but I know how much my heart sank when you weren't. I was afraid to face you again after that. I tried to avoid you the best I could... I get that way when I'm hurt. I honestly didn't think you cared about me. But I heard what you said to Brock... I heard you say those words, Ash," I looked straight at him, seeing his resting face again. He was the closest to happy that I'd seen him since it happened. All of the pain that I resurrected from what I had just said to him faded. "And I love you, too."  
  
My eyes locked onto his face... My stare only broke when I felt my eyes swelling again. "I want to touch you, Ash. I want to feel you and talk to you so I know that you can hear me. I want to feel you like I did before. I want that more than anything right now." I took another look at him and sighed. "But I can't do that. I'll never be able to touch you again... I can't feel you anymore. And as much as I'd love to stop time so that I could talk to you all night... So you'd never wake up and realize that I'm not there... I can't do that either. All that I can do now is entrust you with the one thing that means most to me."  
  
I looked down to the dog beside me and signaled with my hand for her to climb on the bed. "Umbreon is yours now. I can't train her anymore... Please do this for me. Umbreon promised to carry on my career, and she can't do that without a good trainer. I know you two can do it... And you too, Pikachu," I smiled to the mouse, who was still sitting next to Ash.  
  
I closed my eyes and sighed hard. "I have to say goodbye to both of you now. Remember, Umbreon: If you ever get discouraged; if you ever want to give up... I'll be there to get you back up again. I promise you."  
  
She looked me in the eye. She seemed unhappy, but she understood that I had to do this. "Goodbye, Umbreon... Goodbye, Ash."  
  
I took one final glance at the two of them, trying not to get too comfortable, and turned to leave. After I slid through the open door, I turned around one more time. "I forgive you."  
  
  
_"Every night while you are dreaming  
I'm here to guard you from afar  
And anytime I feel alone  
I close my eyes  
And dream I'm where you are."_


End file.
